Good read MW and I largely agree. However, I am probably more optimistic about our options at 7 and loosehead than you as I have a lot of faith in Northcote-Green and Hobbs-Awoyemi and Elrington in those respective roles. I would probably have outside centre as our second weakest slot after the second row. 8 is the big unknown. We need one of Lomidze or Nayalo to really step up.

My biggest concern is the huge improvement made to squads and performances by teams in the one season we were away. Other teams in our position haven't had to face such a difference in the season they were absent. The extra money is starting to show.
I honestly don't feel like we've made enough improvement to the forwards with guys familiar with the league. 4 or 5 haven't played in England before. Forwards discipline will also dictate how many we lose and by how much. What I'd do to have a workhorse like symons in that squad. To have more hookers than second row is madness. You only need 1 hooker on the pitch.
In the backs we have the potential to compete. I feel outside centre was an area we needed to step up and get an out and out 13. Joe, nalaga, lewington and ransom are only as good as the ball they receive. I hope they're given the space they need as they are deadly finishers. Would loved to have had C Hodgson in as backs coach, backs still don't fire they way they need to for this league.
Bonus points will keep us up or drop us. When we lost before, we faded away in the last 20 which made LBP impossible.
Positives:
1. Morale is better, they all keep mentioning it.
2. Great kicker, keep him fit
3. A target everyone seems to be working towards
4. Management who know the league and love the club
5. All round a better squad with some deadweight now gone.

we need a slice of luck and some self belief. We can absolutely stay up, we've got an awful lot riding on it.

Where 2nd row is concerned, I would hope that Kendo be a pretty good judge and would know what he is getting, with the people we have...! That said, if he thinks we are short-handed/locked, then I'd trust him to hire the best available...

At the end of the day it's going to come down to some of the intangible things Jimbo mentions. We've got a decent enough squad to be competitive in games, but there needs to be a good sense of unity and morale throughout the squad, even in adversity.

Cohesion will also be important and it's good to have the coaching team we have. The core of which have now had 3 years together (including 2 running the academy) and many more years as players before that. There will be no excuse for confused gameplans this season. Everyone should know their role.

I think we will be fine at loosehead as hobbs-awoyemi proved he has what it takes and Elrington also stepped up however he's not premiership ready yet. Really hope smallbone can get back to where he was before his injury as it will be a huge Boost having 3 looseheads all ready to start with Elrington not far behind them
Also think we will be fine at number 8, we will soon find out but I think lomidze could be a real find but obviously he's unproven. I still have high hopes for nayalo too but we will see.
For me at centre if mulchrone gets an injury I would really start to worry. He's so important for us defensively and does a lot of work at the breakdown it's as If we have an extra back row on the pitch. Other than Williams I feel there is a drop off in quality.

We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment.
We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals.
We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards.
If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing
abuse@sportnetwork.net